seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Number 19 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 “This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. 3 Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. 5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and intestines. 6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. 7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. 8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.
9 “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. 10 The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.
9 “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. 10 The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.
You know... the only thing that comes to mind when I read these verses is Matthew 27:24.
Matthew 27:24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
While Pilate wasn't a Jew, his statement about being innocent is a big deal. So maybe looking back on ceremonially cleansing might make that scene come alive.
This is from the easy English site.
In Jewish Law, sin could be unintentional, intentional or defiant. For example, a person could become unclean in many ways (see Leviticus chapters 11 to 15). It was impossible to avoid this in daily life. So this sin was unintentional. But, because the first man Adam sinned, his punishment was death. And Adam was every person’s ancestor, so his punishment affected every person. Therefore, a person who became unclean had to make themselves clean by means of a special ceremony and a sacrifice.
Intentional sins were sins that people did on purpose. For example, to kill someone was an intentional sin. The person knew that it was wrong. A person had to ask God to forgive them. There was no sacrifice for this type of sin.
Defiant sin was blasphemy. God could not forgive that person because they did not repent. The punishment was death.
It is easy to understand why intentional and defiant sins are wrong. God’s 10 rules are about these types of sin (Exodus 20:1-17). They are commands that are for all people at all times. But unintentional sins are more difficult to understand. God gave rules about such sin, but the rules did not have a natural explanation. They were for the Jews only.
To touch a dead body was an unintentional sin. People who had touched a dead body had to make themselves clean. This chapter describes what they had to do.
The first part of the chapter describes the first part of the ceremony. It was not a sacrifice. Here are some of the differences between this ceremony and a sacrifice:
The priest put cedar wood, hyssop and red wool into the fire. They offered them to God. Cedar is a type of tree and hyssop is a type of plant. People used these things to make people and houses clean (Leviticus 14:1-7 and 14:48-53).
This ceremony was very important. So the priest and his helper had to wash themselves afterwards. Also, they had to wash their clothes. The Hebrew word for ‘wash clothes’ (verses 7, 8 and 10) meant also ‘wash away sins from oneself’ in Psalms 51:2 and Jeremiah 2:22.
Someone put the ashes outside the camp. The ashes were ready then for the Israelites to mix with water. They used the ashes for the ceremony that God described to Moses next (verses 11-22).
Intentional sins were sins that people did on purpose. For example, to kill someone was an intentional sin. The person knew that it was wrong. A person had to ask God to forgive them. There was no sacrifice for this type of sin.
Defiant sin was blasphemy. God could not forgive that person because they did not repent. The punishment was death.
It is easy to understand why intentional and defiant sins are wrong. God’s 10 rules are about these types of sin (Exodus 20:1-17). They are commands that are for all people at all times. But unintentional sins are more difficult to understand. God gave rules about such sin, but the rules did not have a natural explanation. They were for the Jews only.
To touch a dead body was an unintentional sin. People who had touched a dead body had to make themselves clean. This chapter describes what they had to do.
The first part of the chapter describes the first part of the ceremony. It was not a sacrifice. Here are some of the differences between this ceremony and a sacrifice:
1. This animal was female.
2. People killed it outside the camp. It was not like a sacrifice that people killed in front of God’s Tent. The Hebrew word for ‘kill’ (verse 3) did not mean ‘to sacrifice’.
3. An ordinary person, not a priest, killed the animal.
4. People did not collect the blood and pour it on the altar. Instead, the people burned the blood with the rest of the cow’s body. The Hebrew word for ‘burn’ (verse 5) was not the same word that people used about sacrifices.
2. People killed it outside the camp. It was not like a sacrifice that people killed in front of God’s Tent. The Hebrew word for ‘kill’ (verse 3) did not mean ‘to sacrifice’.
3. An ordinary person, not a priest, killed the animal.
4. People did not collect the blood and pour it on the altar. Instead, the people burned the blood with the rest of the cow’s body. The Hebrew word for ‘burn’ (verse 5) was not the same word that people used about sacrifices.
The priest put cedar wood, hyssop and red wool into the fire. They offered them to God. Cedar is a type of tree and hyssop is a type of plant. People used these things to make people and houses clean (Leviticus 14:1-7 and 14:48-53).
This ceremony was very important. So the priest and his helper had to wash themselves afterwards. Also, they had to wash their clothes. The Hebrew word for ‘wash clothes’ (verses 7, 8 and 10) meant also ‘wash away sins from oneself’ in Psalms 51:2 and Jeremiah 2:22.
Someone put the ashes outside the camp. The ashes were ready then for the Israelites to mix with water. They used the ashes for the ceremony that God described to Moses next (verses 11-22).
So these dull little verses are describing the recipe for making the ashes that were mixed with the water to cleanse. It might be a far reach but now I'm thinking this is a recipe for soap for the supernatural kind.
The blueletterbible.org site has a lot more information on these verses.
Boring but important.... especially when dealing with these humans.
